to eddie, having company was a far better factor than actually finding proper shelter, which was why he hadn’t complained ONCE about having to sleep under the stars again. he found a reasonably comfortable spot on a bed of moss, a ROCK for a pillow, his poncho for a blanket. sleep came easy after that, already exhausted from the days lashes.
nightmares greeted him like they usually did with SCREAMS and EXPLOSIONS. he was a stormtrooper again, and he had just killed for the fifth time that evening. the despair reeked and his white shell was stained with c r i m s o n . the dream seeped into the wake; he twitched and grunted, just like a dog would do when dreaming of chasing rabbits, although his experience of chasing rabbits wasn’t nearly as ( innocent ). he SLAUGHTERED the young, the old. he lifted his blaster to a weeping child and -
his eyes flew open and he sat up like the blast from his gun with a sharp inhale. however, despite being finally awake, eddie hadn’t quite rid his nightmare. the images still FLASHED , blocking all real vision. he recognised a figure to his right but couldn’t . . . he couldn’t . . .
the man scrambled backwards, his eyes w i d e, his breathing ( hard ). his fist clenched a handful of leaves, then as if someone turned a notch, the images began to ebb away, the screams ECHOED and faded and he was pulled back into the present so suddenly his heart still thumped from the post trauma.
❝ kalel, ❞ he breathed, realising with horror that she had witnessed the horror of his PTSD. he got to his feet shakily and wiped his palms on the poncho. ❝ you didn’t . . . erm . . . i . . . shit. kalel i’m so sorry, you didn’t have to . . . i need to go . . . too much trouble . . . ❞ he began to frantically gather his things into a pile, only to collapse onto his behind. he swallowed, purposely avoiding her eye. eddie buried his face into his hands, still shaking, and let out a ( small sob ) before bringing his knees to his chest. it was so quiet? why was it so quiet?!
